Conveyor egg washing and drying machine



March 30, 1948. G. F. HODSON' CONVEYOR EGG WASHING AND DRYING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. C; E fiops'ozv Mz%% ww mm. m% r k n .1 15; 6 m m, I m n w ww mN m 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. E Honswv G. F. HODSON Filed July 5, 1946 w 6 v QM mm R 6. \mhw 6N CONVEYOR EGG WASHING AND DRYING MACHINE NW2 5 G mm w m 6 Q 66 Q Q NW mN AN March 30, 1948.

w rbNJ March 30, 1948. HODSON 2,438,666

CONVEYOR EGG WASHING AND DRYING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. 6; FHoasozv March 30, 1948.

G. F. HODSON CONVEYOR EGG WASHING AND DRYING MACHJQNE Filed July 5, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 m H A n l N Ihfl \N- M Mm/J m y W WM W6 H Fv G N m B mwkw N WW MN m Patented Mar. 3.0, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONVEYOR EGG WASHING AND DRYING MACHIN 1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to an egg cleanser, and has for one of its objects, a plurality of conveyors, one of which is for cleansing the eggs by abrasive and spraying means to reinstate the natural appearance of the eggs, while another conveyor is to further move the eggs through a period of time suflicient for the eggs to dry.

A further object of this invention is to provide conveyors, the peripheral body of which is covered with closely fitting woven wire commercially known as screening, and the conveyors, having wound on their peripheral surfaces, conveying vanes provided with abrasive surfaces of a comparatively fine texture to produce a matt finish for the shell of the egg.

A still further object of this invention is to construct a machine that will convey eggs through its treating process without causing congestion, or piling up of the eggs in their course of travel.

A still further object of this invention is to provide conductors for the eggs, said conductors being in parallelism and in alignment with the vertical axis of the conveyors to function as a distributor along which the eggs are conducted by the vanes of the conveyor therebeneath, and furthermore, directly over which is positioned a spray pipe extending and spraying continuously the row of eggs from their starting point to the exit, and having means to transfer the eggs from conveyor to conveyor for opposite movement, in their consecutive order.

A still further object of this invention is to construct a machine that will continuously roll the eggs along their path of travel from their entrance point to an exit for the eggs, whereby the shell of the eggs is completely treated circumferentially.

A still further object of this invention is to construct a machine in such a way as to continuously dispose the water after its application to the eggs.

These and other objects will hereinafter be more fully explained, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which like characters will apply to like parts in the different views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the machine.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view at the intake end of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the machine oppo-,

2 site to that of its intake end, while Fig. 5 is a view at the intake end. 7

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 66 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 7-4 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a front side view of the machine.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged side view of a conveyor as modified.

As a more concise description of the drawings, it will be seen that the same is illustrated as having a pair of conveyors. However, it will be seen in Fig. 7 that a pair of rectangular frames I and 2 are positioned on different horizontal planes,

and in spaced relation vertically, while frame I is positioned with one side slightly on a lower plane than that of the other side for the purpose later described, the lower plane being the rear side.

pipe, or the like, it being understood that the said tank consists of sides, ends and a bottom, the depth of said tank being equal to the vertical spacing of said rectangular frames.

Carried on the ends of frame I is a pair of conveyors journalled in bearings I mounted on said frame similar to that shown in Fig. 5, said conveyors consisting of cylindrical bodies 8 and 8' of equal length and having spindles 9 journalled in the bearings 1, said spindles preferably being made from steel, or bronze, while the body portions maybe formed from wood, fiber, or the like, the cylindrical body 8 to function as a cleanser and being covered from end to end by woven wire l0, hereinafter referred to as screen or screening, that is secured tight-fitting to the body. Spirally wound on the body thus covered is a strip ll, commonly known as V-belting, the sides of which converge outward from the body to function as a conveyor for eggs l2 that are conducted into a bottomless trough-like structure consisting of side walls l3, the confronting portions of which are covered with screening i l, or at least one side thereof, as an abrasive feature for the eggs as conveyed and rolled between the said walls of the trough.

The said side walls are convergent downward and being centered substantially on the turning axis of the conveyor, while the center between the screening and abrasive sides of the vane and screen of the trough.

It will be seen that the side walls of the trough-l like structure are supported between end plates I 5 that are carried on the ends of the upper frame of the machine, said walls abuttingly engaging with the end plates and ,beingrfurther supported by bars l6 that are secured to the outer sides of the walls l3 by bolts l1 where'they meet the plates, said bars at their upper ends being-secured-to the plates by'bolts l8, and, the said walls and their respective bars beingclamped to snug engagement between .the plates by rods [9 extending through the plates. V Thecleansingconveyor has a spray. pipe '20 extending its full length and being carried by the plates at the vertical turning axis of the conveyor in spaced relationfrom-the eggs, 2. sectorof the pipe being perforated along its lower surface to dispense liquid over the eggs as the same .are conveyed from end to end of the conveyor, and a supply-2| forone end of the spray pipe while the otherend is closed by a cap 22. ,1 Positioned at the'intake'end of the machine and extending forward therefrom is an egg re-. ceiving table 23 carried by suitable brackets .24 so that the table is positioned on a plane with the upper extremity of the conveyor, said 'table'having a curved portion A and vertically disposed walls B to maintain the eggs therein. while the terminal end of the curved portion extends through the end plate I 5 to permit passage of the eggs into the trough-like structure where they are taken up by the vanes of the conveyor and moved along the walls of said trough-like structure. It will be understood that the terminal end of the first vane has an end portion feathered inward tomeet the body of the conveyor to avoid crushing theeggs where they pass thereover to engage on said conveyor body.

As a meansto conduct the eggs to. the curved portion, it will be seen that a belt 25 substitutes a strip of the floorof the table and moves toward the conveyor, said belt being carried by a driven pulley. 26 vthat is rigidly mounted on shaft 21 on which a sprocket 28 is secured, while the other end of thebelt rides on a pulley 29 that is loosely.

mounted on the conveyor spindle, said spindle being the driving mediumthrough its sprocket 30 same and as easily applied at the time of mold-;

'on which a chain BI is mounted that drives the.

first said shaft and pulley, that in turn drivesthe belt; being so arranged the eggs are moved toward the cleansing conveyor on a ratio equal to their the driving pulley for the belt. The power-actui ating means is on the other end of the conveyor 8 that consists of a motor 32, the shaft 33 of which enters a transmission case where the power is transmitted at right angleby suitable gearing to the spindle adjacent thereto, said spindle having.

apulley 35 rigidly secured. as driving means for another pulley 36 that is secured to the spindle 4 of a sterilizing conveyor 8| and being connected by a belt 31 as turning means for the said conveyor, whereby both conveyors are timed equal in rotation as the eggs from the cleansing conveyor 'machine to where they are picked up by the vanes of the sterilizing conveyor and then moved oppositely toward the intake end of the machine.

To sterilize the eggs it will be seen that a bar39 extends from plate to plate l5, said bar where it meets the plates having a rightangle bent portion 46 for its ends to fit snugly and being secured to said plates as shown in Fig. '7. The bar is carrying means for lamp brackets 4| at each end of the bar, and a pair of brackets at .thecenter as carrying meansforreflector 42 under which are also supported bythe brackets fluorescent lamps 43 asa sterilizing medium, casting its rays down ward over the eggs as conveyed and turned there-' under. N In other words, asset up in the drawings, there are two of said lamps aligned and being in parallelism with the conveyon Furthermore, it will be seen thatthe eggs are conducted'through a similar trough-like arrangement to that pro vided for the cleansing conveyor and discharged therefrom at the feeding end ofthe machine onto another table 44 through asuitable curved con ductor 45 as shown in Fig. l'that is likewise sup ported by suitable brackets 46 as shown in the drawings and from which; the eggs are removed and packedin conventional egg containers. 7

As a modification for the structure of the conveyors, it, will be seen in Fig.9 thatthe material employed for the body 41 and vanes 48 integrally formed therewith may be Carborundum, or the like, which isan abrasive substitute without additionalappliances to accomplish anabrasive feature, and furthermorethe Carborundumwillnot,

deteriorate or increase its size under the influence of water, however the spindle 9, will remain the In an egg cleanser, apair of conveyors coa'cting, a frame on which the conveyors are journalled and legs to carry the frame, a table carried by the frame in working relation to one end of one of the conveyors, a belt and pulleys to'carry' the belt, the belt being on a plane with the table and positioned on its side adjacent the said one end of the conveyor, guiding means carried by the table to conduct eggs across the belt and from thence onto the conveyor, and a trough on the other ends of said conveyors to conduct eggs. onto one end of the other conveyor, guiding and aligning means for the eggs carried by the conveyors along their upper sides, a table at the other end of last said conveyor and guiding means to dispense the eggs on last'said table, a motor and transmission gears to turn said conveyors and' move the belt, a pipe and means to carry the pipe in parallelism with first said conveyor and in spaced relation thereabove, said pipe being aper-F' tured along its lower side to dispense waterpover the eggs as conveyed thereunder, fluorescent lamps of suitable length to extend full length of the last said conveyor, and means to carry the same thereabove and being vertically aligned with the turning axis of said conveyor.

GEORGE F. HODSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number Great Britain Nov. 17, 1909 

